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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2024
- PolyCast™ is a 3D printing filament designed specifically for investment metal casting.
PolyCast™ features Ash Free™ Technology which allows the material to have an extremely clean burn out, typically leaving an ash residue of ~0.003%
This video follows a short production run of a custom part featuring undercuts with a complex geometry. Using PolyCast™ to 3D print investment patterns eliminates the tooling stage and allows for quick design iteration.
learn more about PolyCast™ on our new website.
polymaker.com/product/polycast/
www.polymaker.com - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Me clicking on this video thinking I'd be able to do this at home.
You can likely do it at home, with a little change in method (immersion in a plaster compound).
Yeah it's doable, although from my experience you wouldn't get this nice of a finish or tolerance
You can. There are some TH-camrs doing this stuff.
even if you printed and polished a mold and found a local or not local foundry to put it in their run...then you get something you wanted, and experience, and you don't need a foundry or metallurgist's knowledge off the bat. It's a starting point, I think.
Yes me too lol. Start with a cheap home 3D printer but then have a complete full blown factory behind it. Seems weird. Why not use mold injection machine then.
For those of you saying "just use PLA"... standard PLA will leave .01% ash. This leaves less than 1/3 of that, so there is a significant difference.
Does that affect a lot the finished part ? by what factor ?
@@Jpifr surface finish + contamination of the alloy...
Ash is left after burnout, and can be cleaned out prior to pouring metal.
There are many different casting processes.
Some people literally pour metal into a sand mold while the PLA is still in it, then the molten metal burns away the PLA. This method can achieve surprisingly good results sometimes, though results are not the most consistent and predictable.
On the other hand some people, fill a bucket containing the PLA with plaster and then their mold frequently breaks or cracks. Because the mold has 3 inch thick, four inch thick, or even thicker walls, which leave more room for bubbles, and critical differences in heating/cooling rates through the material.
Then there are methods as shown here, where the mold is built up from multiple ceramic coats. This creates uniform material thicknesses. You don’t need a mechanical cerami dipping processes as shown here though. Coats can be built up with brush coats, or manually dipping an individual piece by hand.
As far as I know, lost PLA casting developed as 3D printers became more accessible and affordable. So it’s a fairly young development, and as such is still maturing. Current lost PLA methods will be improved, refined and enhanced.
Lost PLA is a stop gap solution though with a limited lifetime of usefulness. Because we can already print directly to metal, in a dozen different ways, and direct to metal is of course ideal. So it’s really just a matter of cost. As costs come down on direct to metal additive manufacturing, along with innovations in that field improving quality of output, ease of use, and speed of output, lost PLA will probably become a lost art.
So if your running a large operation doing a high volume of production, then maybe, a filament like this polyforn could make sense. If the reduction in ash after burnout is actually going to translate into faster turnaround and reduced costs… Of course that must also be weighed against the cost of any retooling, retraining, and potential downtime involved in transitioning. It would also be worth comparing those estimates with estimates on implementing an ash removal step between burnout and pouring. Finally, it must also be borne in mind, that lost PLA may be obsolete in the not too distant future, so everything should be weighted against s plan to transition to direct to metal printing eventually.
@@multi-mason 1 year later and direct to metal printing is still insanely expensive with no cost reduction in sight.
Lost PLA is still incredibly viable for most hobbyists and small businesses.
Pouring straight into the invested mould without a sand support around it blew my mind. Nice!
The ceramic they use isn't as cheap and reusable, but it is definitely quick and strong.
I've been trying to do similar with plaster of paris moulds for casting aluminium but they keep cracking. Think I will try adding fine sand to the mix and perhaps some fibreglass from insulation.
@@Spedley_2142 Don't use plaster of Paris. Get some real ceramic compound type of investment plaster. Coating the outside of the mold with silica while it is still tacky wet will strengthen the mold.
@@Super73VW Not an option as I have to work with what I have. I did just try a fine sand mix and it was a LOT stronger. Also keeping it in a sealed container while it heats up and then letting moisture out slowly seems to help prevent cracking. Will do a proper test tomorrow,
Sand makes it a lot stronger but also make it worse at sticking.
Well, this seems pretty cool!
Hey it's Joel :D I agree with you it does seem cool but personally I would like to be able to do this at home and I wouldn't have access to all that industrial equipment
So when can we expect a video of you using a kiln like www.cooltools.us/Evenheat-Kingpin-88-p/kln-971-p.htm to burn it out and casting some aluminum parts in your back yard? Make it a partner video with Barnacules (he has a few backyard metal casting videos).
You might check out Worldtraveler th-cam.com/channels/uYrxLwT9hWwDIX7a4x9ZWg.html As he does the wax investment at home as a hobby.
Would have been nice to see all this work done on a more DIY scale. I know the youtuber 2StokeStuffing is doing it.
I, and my university, actually print the diplomas for casting. Look of Colorado School of Mines casted diploma.
And I thought sanding was too much post-processing.
I have always had so much respect for people who work in metal foundries. I honestly dont think i could physically take working in one, I am just not good with high temps.
The content on this channel is so good!
Thanks for the step by step! 👍💓
This is awesome. I need to do this at home.
Use regular PLA, it works the same, I have cast throttle bodies for an engine before from PLA (cast was done in Alu)
Thanks :o)
Definitely applaud you for a pretty well narrated video and without any stupid MUSIC edited into it
what kind of ceramic do you use? I'm trying to replicate the process so I can produce aluminum parts but I can't find a plaster mix that can withstand the heating process to melt the filament.
Can you tell us about this foundry? Where is that and what is the contact?
Cant wait to try that stuff out
would SLA work? the high resolution finish avoids having to smooth it and risk tolerance offset
Just started using this in my home foundry.
You guys should make a second video showing how this can be done at home.
if you dont have a big industial foundry behind your house, rather not.
@@derxman no you can do metal casting at home. Usually done with aluminium instead of iron but still a very similar process. I'm just curious if using aluminium would change anything.
@@x9x9x9x9x9 this is investment casting also known as lost-wax casting. Not an ordinary casting method. Very expensive and labor intensive with ceramic materials.
@@x9x9x9x9x9 the main difference is that you have to burn the caramic material and remove the wax at very high temperature before the metal casting procedure. Hardly feasible without an industrial oven.
@@derxman can it be done using the plaster of Paris stuff? Basically I want to know of this can be used similar to the wax filament.
Is it possible to use this filament in different fdm 3d printers
Ash free but the video shows emptying the ash out of the mould. Maybe it is just PLA at a premium price.
0.003 percent ash
@@JonSpink Yes so it is not ash free as stated.
@@garyhoffmann1615 right. i didnt hear that bit. it does say its 0.003 percent ash and they show it being washed out for higher quality finish casts
@@garyhoffmann1615 These comments are not douche free.
now im interested in the ceramic slurry for the mold.
What is the polishing process? Is IPA used?
What is the best burn out cycle for this material??
This is amazing!
Is it possible to use this for backyard foundry work outside of an industrial setting? This looks like an excellent tool for processes similar to lost-wax casting but I can't imagine the average consumer having a use for this.
PolyCast™ completely vaporises at temperatures of >600°C, however the Tg is much lower (70°C).
@@Polymaker what is Tg in your post ?
@@morpheusmaraudeur3022 Tg stands for glass transition. Think of it like the temperature a material will change from solid to rubbery.
Is this a rocket nozzle or something? I've just been trying to figure out what it is.
can it be done in sand?
What kind of pieces is it? Which purpose?
Future looks good.
Great process! But what material do they use for ceramic dipping?
It's depends of the metal that you will cast, and some mixtures are patented
@@CAPTIS-3D aluminio?
I’m looking at this for glass making. If we are putting it in a furnace at 900 degrees why favour polycast over standard PLA
very kool stuff
Do you print this material?
With many quantity production, why not using pressurize metal moulding?
Could you use this with a sand mold and use the heat of the metalnto burn it out?
I don't know if it would melt quick enough, but you could use a mix of plaster and sand and melt it out using a blowtorch or just stick it in a wood oven.
How cost effective is this process for a hobbyist doing it in their back yard? I know a lot of people do lost-pla casting for metal parts, as outsourcing to machinists is expensive, and even more expensive for one-off parts, and even more so for single part projects; I know of a lot of shops that won't even take one-off, small production, or prototype projects.
If this process can be cost effective, it'd be a good investment.
Xander Zoolander there are some parts you can’t machine which makes casting the only choice. If you’re in that situation and you need a metal part, you’d need to do a casting.
@@goldwinstewart6590 I realize this, and this is why I'm asking the cost effectiveness compared to typical lost-pla casting.
Also with 5+ axis mills, there's very little that isn't possible to machine.
A quick question does this type of filament based on clorocarbon or is it based on hydrocarbon
This is really important for my use
I think it's Chlorocarbon. At 0:52 you can see it being smoothed with alcohol, and If I remember correctly only chlorocarbons can melt with alcohol.
@MichaelKingsfordGray Not really. Hydrocarbons only contain hydrogen and carbon atoms. Alcohols also contain at least one oxygen per molecule. This makes them more or less polar, as opposed to hydrocarbons which typically are relatively non polar.
At what temperature do you do the cleaning out? I bet it has to be way over the printing temp
900°c
Can shells be autoclaved to remove the wax trees before firing in the kiln? We have dealt with materials that work well in the autoclave and others that expand too much and cause the shell to crack.
Hi Scott, the PolyCast™ patterns cannot be autoclaved to leave the shell. The material is designed to be burnt away and completely vaporizes at temperatures of >600°C. We suggest skipping the autoclave process used with wax patterns and burn out the PolyCast™ patterns at the same time as curing the ceramics.
@@Polymaker Hi - I spoke to a Investment caster about this, but he felt burning out the PolyCast would take too long in the kiln. Does it take longer to burn out the PolyCast than the time normally taken to cure the ceramic molds in the kiln?
@@markpickering9078 Hi Mark, the burn out process happens at the same time as curing the ceramic. There is no additional time needed to burn out the PolyCast™ patterns. PolyCast™ will vaporise quickly at temperatures above 600°C. Our customers usually fire their ceramics at 1200°C for 1-2 hours to cure, this timeframe is more than sufficient to burn out the PolyCast™ pattern.
for the complex parts that have to be printed in multiple piecse and then stick together what is the best gluing product for poly cast that dose not affect burn out?
Isopropyl alcohol (IPA, isopropanol) is the best method to join PolyCast™ parts together. Use a brush to apply the IPA to the sections you need to join and the surface will become tacky and sticky. You can then mate the faces and clamp or tape them together while the IPA evaporates. The parts will then harden together with a chemical weld. This method will also burn away very cleanly leaving no additional residue.
@@Polymaker thank you
Tell me about 304grade steal casting
That ceramic solution can replicate at home?? What components does it has?
Investment casting derives its name from the pattern being invested, or surrounded, with a refractory material; in this case, the ceramic is the refractory material. Most, if not all, commercially available investment plaster should be ceramic. As ceramics are heated clay, and clay is easily made into a slurry, it makes sense to use it.
If you don't know much about ceramics, their use as refractories, or the various composition of ceramics, DigitalFire has a good glossary page on refractories. I'd post a link, but I'm pretty sure links get filtered as spam.
I'll also point out that you have to bake the clay slurry coating to make it a ceramic coating, which will also burn out the plastic being molded. This requires a lot of heat, especially with large pieces, and typically requires industrial sized furnaces. A better solution is to use the normal lost pla casting method; or silicone molds, depending on what metals you're using and if you can find a product with a high enough temperature range.
@@xaytana thanks you very much. My idea and what i have been trying for a long time is to make aluminium parts. I have an induction furnace to melt the metal but i have problems to find a mold capable of resist high temperatures
Can't the moulds be pre-heated to drain the PLA out for re-processing/ recycling. And then fire in oven...
Not really. PLA won't flow like water. It's more like solid > thick lava > gas. And PLA is pretty cheap anyway.
PolyCast™ is vaporized at >600°C typically leaving 0.003% ash residue. The molds need to be preheated to fire the ceramic, this also allows the molten steel to flow better inside the mold and to make sure the heat shock doesn't crack the mold. Traditionally, wax patterns would be steamed out under high pressure in an autoclave prior to preheating. Using PolyCast™ this stage can be omitted and the burn out can happen at the same time as the curing of the ceramic.
Tell me about 304grade flask castong
What a kind of polishing process? Sand/soda blasting?
Probably acetone vapor exposure... It melts the sharp points and surface tension polls the liquid-polymer to a smooth finish, that's how it works with ABS
Smoothing the part with alcohol (like ABS/acetone but with alcohol)
@Paolo G Is it PLA? They say it prints like PLA, but it might be something different.
I am from india , gujarat, rajkot. i want know more about wax 3d printing.. Because die is used for wex pattern in Rajkot..i want to update this Process..
This looks super fun to try, but polycast is sold out. Are there any plans for bringing it back?
Use plain old pla instead ;)
PolyCast™ will be back in stock in 2 weeks
you can do the same with ABS.
How much would a helmet cost?
Helmets are not made of metal
@@robinyilmaz1155 well that depends on the helmet.
any companies offering this as a service?
I know that Mass Portal Printing Service offers polycast material as an option for production
Hi i would like this company to make my parts,could you give me there link please
"Gates" not sprues. There is only 1 sprue and that it where the metal goes into the shell mold via the pour cup.
Very cool!! What is the cost of the Polycast filament compared to typical PLA?
Alot
Can I simply print an item encase it in green sand and pour aluminum?
no the metal would have frozen long before the filiment had burnt out
@@tonyhill8300 I found out already. But thanks.
Tried it but it really need a big smoke removalsystem because you have to smoke the whole object out... not very nice for the neighbours..it really smells like a plastic burn.
fantastic
who can do this in the Netherlands and/or in Germany?
1:32 anyone know the name of that ceramic slurry?
Its called ceramic shell. Its made up of a variety stuff, colloidal silica and other binders. You add silica flour to it as well. Its expensive stuff and the problem is once you mix it you have to constantly mix it or it will harden and dry out and a lot of cash goes into the land fill. Anyone looking to cast on a small hobby basis would be better off looking into investment casting. Pretty strait forward and affordable.
@@JohnWHadlock thank you. At first i thought you were just describing it but its just ceramic shell. I'm considering using plaster of Paris as investment casting, But I do want to be able to heat the mold up pretty hot without cracking. You think plaster of paris is fine for that or is there some better investment casting brand material?
@@mhypersonic You can cast very well in investment casting if you do it right. I would just do some googling. A couple tips are. Let the investment "cure" not dry out. Let it cure for a couple days in a dry environment. Second use proper sand like a fused silica sand, you can play around with proportions of plaster, sand and water. You can buy other binders for it. Third is use a scaffold in your mold. Like re bar in concrete. Lastly when you go to heat up or vitrify the investment heat it up slow so the expansion of the material melts out versus expanding and cracking the investment (that's where a good scaffold comes in). Also when you print your part use as little infill as possible. It will limit expansion. And don't over cook your investment. It will turn to chalk. Its not like ceramic shell which fuses together and makes a solid shell. Good luck
@@JohnWHadlock THANK YOU! I've been do much research and you've helped so much. When you mean scafford i looked it up I didn't really find anything but are you implying that if you use steel wool in between the layers it will reinforce the plaster from breaking and cracking. Cuz if so that is a really good idea. I didn't even think about doing that. Not necessary considering plaster still pretty strong coated with silicone powder but i have the materials so ill try that out 2 or 3 layers in.
@@mhypersonic sorry I wasn't very clear. When you do investment you built a frame or mother mold around the part and then pour the sand plaster mix around your part. The "scaffold " is placed in the empty storage between the mother mold and the part. It reinforces the plaster mold.
sh.tt , this is damm good
Pretty sure regular PLA will do the job,
This will probably perform a bit better. Your average hacker just trying to make some rough parts probably wouldn't care, but if you want the best results with very dense details, more specialized products help. VegOilGuy has done some extremely details casts with tiny coins and whatnot and has done a variety of tests with several products and methods which shows what works.
it's top
"no tooling" but you'll need 2 factories 1 to cast and 1 to machine parts afterwards.....
If you bring those models to the foundry, you'll reduce 95% of the time required to get your pieces.
I think the video explains it very well, although not everything. The liquid in which the pieces of FDM are bathed, is a colloidal silicon compound, to which Chamota is added in layers as if it were a batter.Subsequently, it is cured at 800 degrees, to evacuate all possible moisture, then it is verified that there is no ash inside and the mold is dried to dry.
Doing this with plaster of paris is causing an accident, formerly in the foundries of lost wax was used paris plaster with brick dust, but caused large explosions of water vapor if not well dry. when dumping the metal.
Doing this at home is exposing yourself to a huge accident.
Seems like a waste of time 3d printing each "investment" for a production run of the size shown( looks like over 10,000 pieces or more) ,
a part that intricate would take a minimum of 2 hours per 3d print per part 1-1 ratio, but with heavy undercuts like shown, I can see the benefits.
If you are looking to mass produce cast metal parts (without undercuts) why not try instead:
1) 3d print the prototype.
2) smooth out Z layers with your preferred method
3) Make a 2 piece Silicone mold of the plastic part ( you can make more molds as necessary out of the 1 plastic prototype)
4)pour wax into the mold to create your investment
5)cast as per normal "lost investment" casting process
by all means , if you are only making one prototype part ever, use the plastic and wait the 2 hours print time. Just make sure you don't fudge the casting process or it's back to square one.
I don't think that example part can be demolded from a two pc silicone mold the geometry would trap part of the silicone mold. But yes if possible you should use 3d printing to create a reference mold and then cast of that if it was possible. But for extremely complex shapes or say if they wanted internal fluid channels ducting it would be impossible to use a 2 pc silicone mold. It does have its applications I think there are also 3d printing in wax itself but that is more complicated and requires different types of printers or the filament is harder to print. This filament is probably just a really clean burning PLA to keep the ash content down. Wax is always going to be better because a majority of it will melt before it burns off so you'll get less ash for sure.
There is a huge application of this in terms of reconstruction. A truck loaded with a few hundred networked 3D printers prints out parts for let's say a water filtration plant. Some are for metal parts like this, others like a pcb board printer/populator makes the electronics, etc. Another truck holds and operates a small recycling/foundry setup. Between these two trucks and a few dozen volunteers they could collect debris and use it to construct needed equipment.
Things like scrapping a few dozen cars that got trashed by a hurricane into motorized frames for solarpanels that follow the sun inorder to more efficiently power a hospital. Essentially situations where almost anything could be needed, but logistically you can't send everything. A convoy of 10 those trucks could rebuild a small town better than it was before in a matter of weeks.
Did you even watch the video? I hope you’re not this careless in your actual job...The guy says at the start this is for: complex but low number runs. He even says they only need 140 of the example part.
Maybe you can collaborate with i materialise so everybody could order „3D printed“ steel parts!
Company name and address please
China
@@piotrr5439 thanks
The printing time and pla are costly as for each casting one premium 3d print is wasted I wonder if its feasable or not
For short production runs, design iteration and prototyping it is not only feasible but saves time and money.
@@Polymaker thanks
I have a feeling I can't do this at home
No, you can. It's easier to use jeweler's investment plaster rather than the ceramic dip shown here, but casting lost-PLA parts at home is totally feasible. There are quite a few tutorials available showing how to build your own backyard metalcasting foundry.
You can use small cnc machine, and forget about all the other steps. 🙂
You certainly can. Most backyard casters use lower temp metals like aluminum or zinc. Search "lost PLA" on TH-cam for many videos
@@Fragmentofbone That's when I lost it. All of this and then they still use a CNC to clean things up. Might as well use the CNC to begin with and save yourself the 3D printing and casting.
@@dsp4392 Ummm - 3D printing a metal part like this? I guess the first step is to buy the $1M plus machine. I am in the CNC industry, but unless you have a 5-axis (minimum) mill then you want be able to make those sorts of parts with serious undercuts, and such small "gaps". Then to get the surface finish in 3D, CNC takes forever as you need to used a very small diameter ball nose cutter. CNC at the end to give a 0.001mm tolerance on surfaces, holes or other critical dimensions is a perfectly feasible application of this. The point here is their are different "best" techniques for different applications. This is an excellent idea for small runs, or where you are not ready to "invest" (pun intended) in tooling for sand casting. Even then, the undercuts still need to be seriously considered. Horses for courses they say.
I’ll be honest I’ve been having parts cast and just using PLA... pretty sure this is just PLA named something else sadly
Pretty sure standard PLA tends to leave some residue during the burn out process, resulting in imperfections on the finished parts. Basically the finished parts will have pitting in them instead of a smooth surface
NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON AMAZON...
very cool, but it multiplies the number of design constraints by a ton and doesn't have the advantage of traditional casting
first constraints are for printability
second constraints are for castability
third constraints are for machienability
all those limit the geometry that can even be made
and traditional casting offers economy of scale
slm metal printers can pretty much do whatever they want, if it doesn't have to be machined
the advantage is in low volume metal parts of course
where it is much cheaper than slm
slm actually requires supports, I think youre thinking about sls. Polycast is based off of polysmooth or pvb, which doesnt have the beat layer adhesion, so support should be easy to remove, and uou can ipa smooth polycast.
This would never fit in my 6x6 room 🤨
Nothing you can do at home... Except 3D printing
at 2:40
I just cringed seeing that guy carrying such dangerously things while dragging a 2 foot long piece of unraveled material on the ground within inches of his feet!
thats the price of our "everything must be as cheap as possible" society
@@lionxuser not sure why him being to lazy to tie up the string is related to cheap products. The original post is right, it was dangerous as he was doing it
way too slow. I can cnc a wax mold and then pour those hundred+ molds out of wax in a matter of hours while 3D printing that many items takes weeks.
polyshing
it is not a mistake : th-cam.com/video/VdtFj-jK-ig/w-d-xo.html
At least to me, with a Ultimaker 2+ and at 17° C room temperature, Polymaker's Polycast is a wast of money and time, since it is by far to brittle. The filament breaks very often.
Please quiet the background music!
so expensive
Why don't they just use the cnc cuter from the start...
Because deep undercuts are very difficult to machine via subtractive manufacturing, and it wastes less metal to cast a near-net part and finish, than to start with a block and remove 80% of it.
TLDR, it's faster, easier and cheaper.
@@MysticalDork I'll need to see an expense report to believe that hiring workers to go through all these processes is cheaper than the waste incurred by CNC. Especially considering that shavings can be easily recycled.
This seems quite the... _investment._
Get out
@@Sigma_Eight didn't expect you this early into the year!
"Completely removes the need for tooling" puts on cnc for post process machining...
This refers to the traditional method of creating a steel tool to inject wax patterns into. PolyCast™ eliminates the need for tooling by replacing injection molded wax patterns with 3D printed parts. In both methods, fine tolerances need to be achieved by CNC machining after casting.
you hath a thpeech impedement
MAGA. Oh no its china :(((
It,s not economical method.
Oh cool. Now I just need to get a foundry too... What useless 'product'